Etc.

January 12, 2009

It's gonna rain cats and dogs

When he was little, Jörg Kachelmann wanted to be a meteorologist, and he has succeeded perhaps beyond his wildest dreams. He founded his own high-tech weather service and became Germany's leading forecaster on TV. In fact, he's so dedicated that he allows almost nothing to break his concentration.

One night last week, for example, he'd been telling viewers about high-pressure systems when a large house cat appeared in the studio. Its tail plainly visible on camera, it walked over to him and stopped at his feet. At first, Kachelmann tried to pretend the animal wasn't there, even though it was rubbing against his pant leg. After several seconds, however, he gave in, stooping in mid-sentence to pick up the feline and cradle it in his arms ... just as cloud patterns appeared over Mainz, Kaiserslauten, and other cities on the map behind him.

Next, the current temperatures replaced the clouds, and Kachelmann never missed a beat even though the cat now was licking him on the chin. By the time he arrived at the extended forecast he was scratching the animal behind the ears. Finally, he wound up his two-minute report, smiled into the camera, and a commercial appeared on screen, ending the show before the cat struggled to be turned loose.

"I don't know how he got into the studio," Kachelmann later said of the animal, who belongs to another station employee, "[but] I thought people might wonder what was happening. Cats get annoyed if they feel ignored. So I made sure he didn't feel ignored."